Machine for cutting old ties into engine-wood.



O. 0. BUSBEY.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING OLD TIES INTO ENGINE WOOD.

APPLICATION FILED IEB,10,1912.

1,041,014. Patented Oct.15,1912.

CHARLES O. BUSBEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING OLD TIES INTO EN GINE-WOOD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15,1912.

Application filed February 10, 1912. Serial No. 676,720.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES O. BUsnnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Cutting Old Ties Into Engine-I Vood, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a machine for cutting old railroad ties up into shorter lengths suitable for and capable of use as fuel in the fire-boxes of locomotive engines. I

In many large cities the use of bituminous coal as a fuel for making steam in locomotive engines running within the city limits is prohibited on account of the accompanying smoke nuisance and the railroad companies are compelled to resort to the use of a comparatively smokeless fuel,and in many places wood is the fuel which is employed. This, under usual conditions is expensive on account of the present scarcity of wood which is rapidly becoming more scarce. The almost exclusive use of wood in crossties in the present railroad construction furnishes a very large fuel product in the shape of partly decayed and worn-out ties, which are now principally waste because of no convenient and economical means for converting them into pieces of suitable size and length for burning in fire-boxes of locomotives primarily constructed for the use of coal as a fuel.

The object of my invention is to provide a readily portable machine which can be used in connection with mechanism now forming a part of the equipment of every railroad, and to provide a rapidly operating and durable machine which will be simple and also economical in its first cost and maintenance.

The object further is to provide a machine which will reduce a tie to proper lengths for engine wood, and simultaneouslyl split those lengths into suitable smaller thicknesses.

I accomplish the objects of my invention by the mechanism illustrated in the accom panying drawing, in which-- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my invention attached inoperative position to. its'associated controlling and driving meeh- 'anism. Fig. 2 is a view in front elevation of the chopping-block, vertically recipro-l eating knife-carrying head in partial section, and a fragment of the lower part of the vertical guides for directing said head, this and the succeeding views being on a larger scale than Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the vertically reciprocating head detached from its guides. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a fragment of the chopping-block, and Fig. 5 is an underside plan view of the reciprocating head and guides looking from the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

6 is a platform supported upon suitable timbers to provide a strong and solid base. Mounted upon the platform is a derrick comprising a vertical mast 7, diagonal boom 8, the lower end of which is hinged to the mast near the base of the latter, and to the upper end of which a sheave-wheel 9 is connected. A like sheave-wheel 10 is attached to the top of mast 7, and the two sheaves 9 and 10 are connected in the usual way by a boom-line 11, by means of which, and other usual and suitable controlling mechanism, the upper end of boom 8 may be raised and lowered.

Suspended from the boomS are a pair of vertical guides 12 which are maintained parallel to each other by 1* cans of a series of transverse yokcs 13. The guides 12 will preferably comprise 8X8 inch timbers of suitable length faced with channel-irons on their adjacent faces let in flush with the normal faces of the timbers as shown in Fig. 5.

Mounted between the two guides 12 is a vertically reciprocating head of cast-iron, 14, having vertical channels to receive the guides 12 with a sliding fit.

Supported by the boom 8 above the guides 12 is a sheave-wheel 15 over which a line 16 is passed. One end of the line 16 is attached to the head 14, and after the line passes over the sheave 15 on boom 8 it passes over a sheave-wheel 17 on the mast 7, thence under a sheave-wheel 18 under the mast and thence to a drum 20 of a hoisting engine mounted on the platform 6. Any of the automatic trips, (not shown) in common use for releasing the hammer-heads of piledrivers may be used to release the reciprocating head 14 of my device, and the abovedescribed hoisting mechanism, derrick and engine may be such as is in common .use for hoisting and pile driving as a part of the present equipment of railroads in general.

Formed in the bottom of the head 14 is a transverse seat to receive a knife 21 to cut the tie cross-wise into shorter lengths. This knife 21 is wedge-shape and the upper broad end of the wedge is inserted in a correspondingly shaped seat in the bottom of head 14, above referred to. The shape of the seat will thus be dove-tailed in crosssection, requiring the knife to be introduced end-wise into it. When thus placed it will be retained and securely locked by means of a wedge 22, driven as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The length of the knife 21 is greater than the width of the tie to be cut by it.

Secured to the head 14, on each side of the knife 21, is a splitting-knife 24. The cutting-edges of these knives are in a plane at right angles to the cutting-edge of knife 21, and the cutting-edge of knife 21 Will preferably be lower than the cutting-edges of the splitting-knives in order to make the cutting operation precede the splitting of the transversely severed parts.

The lower portions of the guidingchannels of the head 14 are recessed to receive plate extensions of knives 24. These plate extensions are of less thickness than the lengths of knives 24 in order to provide a shoulder to contact with the lower corner of head 14 and secure a stronger attachment between the head and splitting-knives. The plate extensions of knives 24 are retained in the recesses made to receive them in the channels of head 14, by means of tapbolts 25.

The chopping-block 26 will be formed out of solid wooden timbers of suitable lengths securely bolted together as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The lower timbers will extend the full length of the choppingblock, but the upper timbers will only extend in from the ends of the block to the paths of the splitting-knives 24, as shown in Fig. 2. These will be covered by a wrought-iron or steel plate 28 having slots 29 for the free passage therethrough of the splitting-knives 24, and between the slots 29 the plate will be bent downwardly as shown at 80 to avoid contact with the cutting-knife 21 and also to provide room for the fibers of the tie immediately under and adjacent to the cuttingknife to bend down with the downward travel of the knife. Blocks of hickory or other solid material 32 will be bolted between the plate 28 and lower timbers of the chopping-block adjacent to the side-walls of the bend 30 of the plate to firmly support the tie adjacent to said clearance 30. These blocks 32 will not extend into the paths of the splitting-knives 24.

The ties 34 are laid lengthwise on the splitting block 26 with their mid lengths under the chopping-knife 21 and their longitudinal mid-widths under the splitting-knife 24. The reciprocating head 14 is elevated to the ,desired height between the guides 12 by winding line 16 on drum 20. The head is then released and being very heavy drops with sufficient force upon the tie to cause it to be cut into two lengths by the knife 21 and to cause the two lengths to be simultaneously split by the knives 24 into two pieces each, which are suitable for use in the furnaces of locomotive engines.

lVhile I have described my invention with more or less minuteness as regards details of construction and arrangement and as being embodied in certain precise forms, I do not desire to be limited thereto unduly or any more than is pointed out in the claims. On the contrary, I contemplate all proper changes in form, construction, and arrangement, the omission of immaterial elements, and the substitution of equivalents, as circumstances may suggest or necessity render expedient.

1. In a machine for reducing ties to firewood, a chopping-block upon which the tie to be reduced is placed, said block having a transverse recess and other recesses in its face, a heavy head reciprocating in a vertical direction above the block said head having a transverse cutting-knife to enter the transverse recess in the block at the lowered position of the head and also having splitting-knives on opposite sides of said transverse knife with cutting-edges at right angles to the cutting-edge of said transverse knife, said splitting-knives being adapted to enter said other recesses in the choppingblock.

2. In a machine for reducing ties to firewood, a chopping-block upon which the tie to be reduced is placed having knife-receiving recesses in its face, a heavy head reciprocating vertically above the block, a transverse cutting knife depending from said head, a pair of splitting-knives shorter than the cutting-knife with cutting-edges at right angles to the cutting-edge of the cuttingknife and arranged on opposite sides of the cutting-knife also depending from said head, said knives being adapted to enter corresponding recesses in the cutting-block, and means for raising and lowering the head.

3. In a machine for reducing ties to firewood, a chopping-block upon which thetie to be reduced is placed comprising horizontally disposed timbers and a metal face plate covering said timbers, said plate having a middle downward transverse bend with slots 1 position and said head having a pair of i splitting-knives at right angles to the cutting-knife arranged on opposite sides of the cutting-knife and adapted to enter said slots in the chopping-block plate, and means for raising and lowering the head.

4. In a machine for reducing ties to firewood, a chopping-block upon which the tie to be reduced is placed said block having recesses in its face, a pair of parallel vertical guides above the chopping-block, a plurality of yokes connecting said guides, a head reciprocating between the guides and directed thereby, means for raising and lowering the head, and a transverse cutting-knife depending from said head and s litting-knives one on each side of the cuttlng-knife also depending from said head, said cutting-knives being adapted to enter corresponding recesses in the cutting-block when the head is in its lowered position.

5. In a machine for reducing ties to firewood, a chopping-block upon which the tie of said channels with the bottom of the head resting on the said shoulders of the knives and means for securing the reduced portions of the knives in the recesses of the channels.

In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seal at Chicago, Illinois, this 2nd day of February, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and twelve.

CHARLES O. BUSBEY.

Witnesses:

CHRISTIAN I. M. JENSEN, W. C. PITTS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

